The time is March 1945, with the Wehrmacht and the SS on the run, trying to retreat to Third Reich territory to face the final onslaught of the Red Army that will end in total German defeat and surrender in May 1945. Their escape route West is subject to attacks by Slovenian partisans and the SS Division Galicia is already on its way from Hungary to deal with them. In the dead of a cold winter, a group of about 500 partisans under the command of 22 year old Franc Sever (Franta) retreat to the slopes of the Menina mountain to avoid the German frontal onslaught. At intervals im the movie we see the real Franta (96 years old in 2019) writing his war memoirs on which this movie is based. At the end, men and women survivors of the Menina action add their views.
I liked this movie. The budget was obviously limited and there are some rough edges in acting and direction, but it pays due homage to the Yugoslavian partisans that carried out an heroic fight against Nazism with scarce or no resources. And, it is also timely in view of disquieting revisionist notions taking hold in Europe. The Galicia Division was guilty of numerous atrocities, praised by Himmler and declared a criminal organization at the Nurenberg Trials. It was composed of ethnic Ukrainians and on April 28 2021 there was a parade in Kyiv celebrating the Division (there were various such demonstrations in Lviv and other cities too). The march was approved by city authorities and there was support from bystanders but, to his credit, President Zelensky condemned it.
